We went on a self hiking trip to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was just two of us for a week and we planned this one to be a relaxing and leisure trip.
We flew in to Atlanta via SW and stayed in Cherokee, North Carolina for the whole week from Nov 6 to Nov 12. We found a hotel which is just 4 minutes drive from the national park entrance as our base, and we drove in/out to visit different parts of the park for hiking. According to the official web side of US National Parks, there are 5 most popular destination hikes in this park:
- Charlies Bunion
- Alum Cave Bluffs
- Andrews Bald
- Rainbow Falls
- Chimney Tops
We had 6 full days to visit this park. So happen, one of the 6 days was raining, therefore, we utilized the remaining 5 sunny days to hike all 5 trails. It was a fun and relaxing trip.
The itinerary were as the following:
- Tuesday, November 5, 2019 - flew to Atlanta, and drove to Cherokee, NC
- Wednesday, November, 2019 - hiked on Andrew Bald Trail
- Thursday, November 7, 2019 - visited Cades Cove area
- Friday, November 8, 2019 - hiked on Alum Cave Trail
- Saturday, November 9, 2019 - hiked on Chimney Tops Trail
- Sunday, November 10, 2019 - hiked on Rainbow Falls Trail
- Monday, November 11, 2019 - hiked on Charlies Bunion Trail
- Tuesday, November 12 - drove to Atlanta and flew back to Houston
It was the fall foliage time and we had an opportunity to view changing colors of leaves and also experienced cold weather. It was fun and refreshing to visit these mountains. Some highlights are as the following:
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| Great Smoky Mountains from Oconaluftee Valley Overlook |
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| View from the top of Observation Tower |
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| View from Maloney Point Overlook |
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| Great Smoky Mountains with Fall Foliage |
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| View of Chimney Rocks from distance |
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| Fall foliage on the Deep Creek Loop Trail |
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| Alum Cave Bluffs |
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| Rainbow Falls |
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| Panoramic view of Charlies Bunion |
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